


Snot my fault

by BarPurple



Series: Halloween House of Horror 2018 [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, kid!Gid, sick!Belle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-03
Updated: 2018-10-03
Packaged: 2019-07-24 15:22:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16177832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: When Belle catches a nasty cold Rumple feels a bit helpless, good job Gideon knows how to make Mama feel better.





	Snot my fault

“You alright there Gid?”

Gid waved the foot of his stuffed dinosaur at him without looking up from his picture book. At only four Gid already had Belle’s passion for books. There were no words in this one but Gid was whispering an animated story to his stuffed buddy. From what Rumple could make out the tale involved Gid and Topsy the Triceratops saving the world from candy thieves. Quite how Spot the Dog was inspiring that Rumple wasn’t sure.

Rumple stepped over the overflowing bin and place a steaming cup of Lemsip on the table by the couch. The pile of blankets on the couch watched him with red-rimmed bleary eyes.

“It can’t be time for another one.”

Belle’s voice had been reduced to a croak by the flu, but the disgust was still plain.

“I’m afraid so, sweetheart.”

He had to bite his lip to hide his smile at the dramatic groan. Belle hated being ill and loathed Lemsips with a passion. A wracking cough cut short her moan and made him hurry to her side to try and rub her back. He was hindered by the sheer amount of blankets Belle had cocooned herself in and her weakly flapping hand.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Rumple always felt adrift on the rare occasions that Belle was ill. She didn’t want to be hugged or even touched and since that was his primary way of offering comfort he was a bit lost as to how to help her.

“I’m almost out of tissues.”

He was perfectly capable of running errands.

“Gid? Do you want to come to the store with me?”

Gid shook his head and then Topsy’s; “No. We’ll stay with Mama.”

Rumple gave Belle a quick look and she nodded. She was feeling better than yesterday she could managed for the short time it would take him to go to the store and back.

“I won’t be long sweetheart.”

Rumple scooped up the tissue mountain on his way out of the room and binned the snotty mass before he headed out to the store. He’d best pick up some more throat lozenges and honey while he was out.

 

Belle grudgingly drank her Lemsip, foul stuff even with the copious amounts of honey Rumple added to it for her. Still the cup was warm against her cold hands. Being sick was awful. An itch started at the back of her throat. Not again. She fumbled the empty cup on to the table and grabbed a tissue just as a giant wet sneeze erupted from her. Ugh. She was ninety percent snot. How was that even possible? And that was her last tissue. Great. She tossed the empty box vaguely in the direction of the bin and snuggled back into her blanket nest.

 

Gid looked up at Mama. She’d gone to sleep, he could tell because she was making that wet snorty noise that was like she was snoring underwater. It was a bit funny, but he didn’t laugh because that wouldn’t be nice.

He spotted the empty box on the floor, Mama had used all her tissues. Gid bit his bottom lip as he considered the problem. Papa wasn’t back from the store yet and Mama might get sneezy again before he got home. Mama wouldn’t use her sleeve to catch the snot because that was gross. Gid still wasn’t sure about that; wiping it on someone else’s sleeve was big gross, but if it was his sleeve and his snot what was the problem?

He hugged Topsy tight as he remembered where there was other tissue in the house.

“I’m gonna help Mama. You stay here and look after her.”

Topsy was a good triceratops and would stand guard while Gid went on his quest.

 

Belle forced her eyes open and almost screamed. She’d been dreaming that all her used tissues had come to life and were crawling all over her in whispery mass. Holding back her scream triggered a cough and she suddenly found herself with a face full of tissue.

“I got you loo roll Mama.”

She wiped her face and peered at the mass of white in front of her. Gid had brought her some loo roll, all of the loo rolls as far as she could tell. He was wrapped head to toe in the stuff and looking so proud.

“I’m a mummy!”

Later she’d blame it on the flu, but with a giggle Belle leaned forward and wiped her nose on Gid’s tissue wrapped sleeve; “Now you’re a mucus mummy!”

 

When he got home, Rumple found a trail of loo roll snaking out of the downstairs bathroom, and the sounds of groaning and croaky laughter coming from the living room. He had a rough idea what had happened, but he wasn’t quite prepared for the sight that greeted him.

“Watch out Rumple! It’s the mucus mummy!”

Belle was sounding better and managing raspy giggles at the mass of loo roll that was lurching around the room groaning. The mucus mummy turned and wobbled towards him.

“Oh no. The mucus mummy. What ever shall I do?”

Belle bounced up and down in her pile of blankets; “Tickles! Tickles defeat the mucus mummy!”

Gid squealed and tried to run away, but Rumple was too quick. He caught him and wiggled his finger though the tattered layers of tissue to find ticklish ribs.

“Does the mucus mummy surrender? Does he?”

Gid squirmed and wriggled losing more and more of his mummy wrappings. Rumple put on a over the top look of surprise as Gid’s face appeared; “Oh it’s you Gid. I thought you were the mucus mummy.”

“I was Papa! It was me all the time!”

“Oh well, you had me fooled.”

 

For a few weeks the mucus mummy took a staring role in the stories Gid created with Topsy. Sometimes he was a bad guy and sometimes he was on their side covering bad guys in snot and gunk. While they loved and encouraged Gid’s imagination, both Belle and Rumple were glad when the mucus mummy and all his snotty powers were retired in favour roaring robot. The robot did require many cardboard boxes, but asking for those at the grocery store caused less raised eyebrows than the sheer amount of loo roll they had been purchasing recently.


End file.
